About Me

"One of our first family members Haikubebe is our most recent favorite. So consistent. So good. So followable." --J.B., Nu Haiku

"Thank god for the good poets, as they give me my language when I have none to use. That said, it's time to thank god for Kristen Lem. Otherwise known to me as Haikubebe, Kristen is a very darling extension of my voiceless self. In tiny and tidy packages of 17-syllables, she manages to give voice to those things I feel and experience which have yet to identify themselves as things needing to be said or heard." --D.W,, Little Miss Raconteur

People sometimes wonder why I like to travel alone. The way it goes is I shut off for a few days, and I love it. Not speaking to anyone. Being silent to my heart’s content. But then I start to crave, and so appreciate, people again – taking in tiny sips of human interaction. A cashier here, a curious toddler there. Maybe I’m just lucky, but the strangers I’ve met in this state have restored my faith in humanity time and time again – and I’m grateful for this private super power, and of course, theirs.

I met a guy once who said it was really important that the woman he dates volunteers in some capacity. It was an understandable quality to look for – certainly an admirable one – and it had me reflecting on my own benevolence. Though grateful for my time on organized Habitat-for-Humanity type trips and Christmas time food drives, those experiences impacted me far less than the smaller moments where I’ve given a literal starving artist a pen and paper, or sat and talked with a woman who lost her job due to bipolar disorder. Sitting blankly across from my philanthropic, kind-hearted date, he must’ve taken my silence as a “dealbreaker” – that I don’t volunteer, but really I’m in my head wondering if it’s selfish to be so inefficient with my generosity? Or is compassion in any way the right way?

You know when you look in the mirror after a night of partying and think, “damn I look busted up!” I get the opposite when I look at myself after a night of working and being productive like “dang girl, hustle looks good on you!”

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"Kristen (haikubebe) is a very darling extension of my voiceless self. In tiny and tidy packages of 17-syllables, she manages to give voice to those things I feel and experience which have yet to identify themselves as things needing to be said or heard."

D.W. (aka. Little Miss Bad Raconteur)

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